A Whale of an Adventure
Oh my goodness, was it a wet Spring Break last week! We did our best to stay dry and still have fun, but by Wednesday, we’d had it with movies, crafts and indoor playgrounds.
Looking out the window at the rain pouring over our city, I figured if we were going anywhere, we were going to get wet. I told to boys to pack their safari hats, swim suits, swim shirts and crocs and meet me in the car. Oddly enough, I didn’t imagine they’d think we were swimming (way to go, Mom); I just wanted them to be able to wear clothes outside that are supposed to get wet so they wouldn’t complain about getting wet outside!
Destination: The legendary Blue Whale of Catoosa!
I knew it would be about a 45 minute ride, so the boys packed some activities and snacks, and we ventured out into the pouring rain!
“Blue” the whale is literally right off the highway, on historic Rt. 66. North on 66 off of 240. You can’t miss it…unless you’re me. I missed him, and pulled in the QT a few miles down the road to ask for directions. But I passed a couple of places I’m going to have to go back and check out on another adventure, so I say it was a win-win navigational fail!
We pulled up and walked right into the cute covered entrance, and I felt like we were walking back in time.
There was a lot of mud, so I was really glad I wore my golashes!
It is so sad this place isn’t up and running like it was in the 70’s. There are several brightly painted cement picnic tables on a sandy beach-like area meeting up with the pond that Blue swims in. Can’t you just see kids laughing and playing, sliding down the slides and doing cannonballs off the side of the whale?!
Ahhhh don’t eat us, Blue! We’re in the belly of a whale!!
C’mon, my kids are CUTE!
From the inside of the whale, there are steps leading up to slides on either side where patrons used to be able to slide into the pond. When you visit The Blue Whale, you have to make sure you introduce it to your kiddos as a history lesson, otherwise they’ll be pretty disappointed they don’t get to swim and slide down those slides (especially if you cruelly told them to wear their swimsuits when you left the house!)! To help with that history lesson, there is a cool poster on the side of the old snack shack that shows several other neat destinations along the mother road.
The park is kept up by a group of volunteers, who call themselves “big dreamers,” and we are so grateful they’ve kept Blue and the dream of Hugh Davis alive! They are collecting donations to restore the adjacent “ARK” (Animal Reptile Kingdom) into a museum, and expand the parking lot for the many visitors Blue receives every year.
Once my little bees got over the disappointment of not getting to swim, they let me talk them into romping around on the trails surounding the pond!
We found a tree that looked like a cave underneath, and Aidan labeled it the “woods cave.” Alec was a little afraid bears might find us!
Aidan searched for swords (sticks) for everyone.
Then we made some friends who were travelling cross country from California, exploring Rt. 66 and tent camping along the way. They’d never been in Oklahoma before, so we gave them a warm welcome.
They shared with us pictures from their adventures, and offered to take a family pic of us.
Would you believe I didn’t get their names? Hopefully they find me on my blog – I’d love to know what else they experienced in Oklahoma and on Rt. 66!
Tomorrow I’ll tell you about our hike through Turkey Mountain! What did you do with your little bees on Spring Break?
See you around town!
Missy
Honeybee Mama
